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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948629">Dragon Slayer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeGhost/pseuds/OrangeGhost'>OrangeGhost</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Steven Universe (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Corrupted Steven Universe, Gen, Guilt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:21:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948629</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrangeGhost/pseuds/OrangeGhost</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years ago, Duchess Rose's assassination left her lands undefended against the dragon. Its reign of terror has lasted long enough!</p><p>Sir Connie Maheswaran has trained for this for years. She's finally ready to set out into the Desolation and slay the mighty dragon.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Desolation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sir Connie Maheswaran had already said her goodbyes. She was off to slay the dragon, and nobody would talk her out of it! Her mentor, Pearl, had made a huge fuss about it, but Connie was determined. She pushed down the anger. Pearl was just worried about her, but she wasn't a kid anymore.<br/>
She had nearly left the gates of Bayburg when Pearl stepped out of the shadows.<br/>
"Pearl!" Connie exclaimed.<br/>
"Before you say anything, I'm sorry for how I reacted earlier," Pearl said. "I know you've been preparing for this for years. I should have been more supportive."<br/>
"...Thank you," Connie said. She couldn't help but feel suspicious about this turnaround.<br/>
"I don't want you hurt, Connie, understand? Slay the dragon, but don't sacrifice yourself to do so. You're smart, I'm sure you'll find a way," Pearl said.<br/>
"Yes, ma'am!" Connie said with a nod.<br/>
"Excellent. Now, there's one more thing I can do for you," Pearl said. She took something off of her back. It was round and wrapped in brown cloth. She handed it to Connie, who unwrapped it. It was a beautiful, round shield with pink heraldry of a rose pattern on the front.<br/>
"This shield used to belong to Duchess Rose. It was one of the few things I was able to escape with when the dragon attacked. It will keep you safe from the dragon's fire," Pearl explained solemnly.<br/>
"I... Pearl, this is... thank you. I won't let you down," Connie said. Pearl pulled her into a hug.<br/>
"I know you won't. I'll be waiting for your triumphant return!" Pearl said.<br/>
Connie left Bayburg feeling much lighter. The dragon didn't stand a chance.</p><p>	One thing that the old stories of heroes always seemed to leave out was how much walking there was. It was only the first day of her journey, and she was already sick of it. By the time she got to Dragonhaven, she was about ready to collapse onto a barstool and rest her feet.<br/>
Comet's Refuge was the centerpoint of the trading outpost. The owner had built it on the only spot in the Desolation that the dragon wouldn't attack. Traders and travelers who dared risk the road between Delmarva and Rhinestone would inevitably rest at this oasis before moving on. A small community had built around the inn, but Connie had no need of the trading posts here. All she needed was a drink and a place to sleep.<br/>
Comet's Refuge was very inviting. It was a relatively recent construction, but it felt old, and the smell of cooked meats and baked bread pervaded the air. Travelers happily minded their own business and spoke to their friends at tables. Connie had barely sat down at the bar before being asked her order by a short barkeeper with long, floor-length hair.<br/>
"I'll have an ale, thank you," Connie said.<br/>
"You're not the usual type we see around here. You a caravan guard?" she asked.<br/>
"Oh, no, I'm a knight from Delmarva. Sir Connie Maheswaran. Pleasure to meet you," Connie said floridly. The barkeep didn't seem to know what to do with that introduction.<br/>
"Amethyst. So, on your way to Rhinestone, or on your way home?" Amethyst asked. Connie grinned. She hadn't planned on telling strangers what she was up to, but the barkeep had asked.<br/>
"Neither. I'm on a quest to slay the dragon!" Connie said. The barkeep's eyes widened.<br/>
"...Whoa. Well... you've heard what they've said about him, right?" Amethyst said.<br/>
"Oh, I know. I don't expect it to be easy, but I'm up to the challenge," Connie said.<br/>
"I dunno what they say in Delmarva, but here in the Desolation, we hear all sorts of stuff," Amethyst said. Connie doubted any of it would be useful or true, but it wouldn't hurt to listen.<br/>
"What do you hear?" Connie asked.<br/>
"He's an absolute brute. The most dangerous dragon in two hundred years or more. He slaughtered the entirety of Duchess Rose's army, and Rhinestone sent platoons and champions after him for years. None of them have ever managed to lay a scratch on a single scale," Amethyst said. Connie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She was really playing up how dangerous he was.<br/>
"That's what they say, huh?" Connie asked.<br/>
"Well, that's not what Rhinestone says. They're too proud to admit that anything could overcome their armies. But they eventually learned that it was cheaper to let him have the Desolation. No use throwing away good troops, am I right? Trust me, lady, you're better off just going home," Amethyst said.<br/>
"I can't. It's not an option," Connie said. Well, it <i>was</i> an option, but she planned on getting a little further than the first inn along the way before turning back.<br/>
"You know... there's a seer that lives on the edge of Rhinestone. The real deal. Maybe she could tell you for sure how bad an idea this is," Amethyst suggested. Connie was intrigued. Seers were hit or miss at the best of times, but some intelligence would be better than going in blind.<br/>
"Have you met her?" Connie asked.<br/>
"Sure have! She's never wrong. Well... with one exception. Sometimes she withholds information, but she never lies, and her predictions always come true," Amethyst said. If she was some kind of shill, Connie didn't know what her end goal was. It didn't hurt to take an extra day to seek her out, though.<br/>
"Maybe I'll find her," Connie said.<br/>
"Her name is Garnet. On the road to Rhinestone, there's this little dirt path with a painted sign of three eyes. It leads right to her hut," Amethyst said.<br/>
"...Thanks," Connie said. She still wasn't sure, but she filed that information away for later.<br/>
"Hey, Greg! Hey! Come here!" Amethyst called. A burly, chubby man came out from the kitchen. He had a beard, and he was balding, but what remained of his brown hair was very long and pulled into a ponytail.<br/>
"Ah! Welcome to my inn! I'm Greg," the innkeeper introduced himself. He reached out a hand, and Connie shook it.<br/>
"You built this place?" Connie asked.<br/>
"Sure did! I had some help, though," Greg said, gesturing to Amethyst.<br/>
"This is Sir Connie, from Delmarva. She has it in her head that she's gonna slay the dragon," Amethyst said. Greg's happy expression dropped in an instant.<br/>
"Oh. Thanks, Amethyst," Greg said. Amethyst retreated into the kitchen, and Greg turned to Connie.<br/>
"Are you going to try to talk me out of it, too? It won't work," Connie said.<br/>
"At least give me a chance. I don't mean to insult you, but I've seen more seasoned warriors than you try their luck against the dragon. They all died," Greg said seriously.<br/>
"I'm not trying my luck. I'm testing my skill," Connie said.<br/>
"I can't bear to see so many promising young warriors throw themselves against him. He's more dangerous than you're prepared for," Greg said.<br/>
"You don't know how I've prepared," Connie said. "My mentor, Pearl, taught me almost everything I know. This has been my sole focus for the last five years."<br/>
"Pearl...?" Greg said, surprised.<br/>
"She was one of Duchess Rose's top officers. She knows that I'm strong enough, and she gave me this," Connie said, pulling out the shield and unwrapping it. Greg stared at it with wide eyes.<br/>
"This shield will repel the dragon's fire. My sword was custom built to cut through its scales. Believe me when I tell you that I am very capable of doing this," Connie said.<br/>
Greg stared at her with an... odd expression. It was mostly surprise, but also sadness, and... fear? Connie raised an eyebrow at him.<br/>
"Well, consider this. What if you fail? The dragon doesn't like settlers, but he mostly keeps to himself. If you rile him up, he'll go on a rampage! And we'll be the ones to pick up the pieces," Greg said.<br/>
"Don't try to guilt me into sparing a monster," Connie said. Greg glared at her.<br/>
"I don't want you poking a sleeping dragon," Greg said.<br/>
"It's going to cause destruction whether I rile it up or not. If I kill it, it won't hurt anyone ever again," Connie said. Greg wilted.<br/>
"W-well! If I can't convince you to turn away, I guess I did as much as I could," Greg said cagily. Connie relaxed. Finally. She didn't want to explain herself to every person who tried to talk her out of this.<br/>
"So, um... did you want a room for the night?" Greg asked.</p>
<hr/><p>	As soon as Sir Connie turned to go to her room, Greg retreated into the kitchen to find Amethyst.<br/>
"What did she say?" Amethyst said immediately.<br/>
"...I think she can really do it," Greg said.<br/>
"What? No way!" Amethyst said.<br/>
"She said she was trained by Pearl! And she has Rose's shield. And Pearl said she was ready. I think... I think she could really kill him!" Greg said, running a hand through his hair. "I-- I have to go! Amethyst, I need you to run the inn while I'm gone."<br/>
"You can count on me, dude! I told Sir Connie to see Garnet, so that'll give you an extra day. Maybe Garnet will be able to talk her out of it," Amethyst said. It was a nice thought, but Greg doubted it.<br/>
"Thanks, Amethyst. I'll... see you around."</p>
<hr/><p>	Connie got up bright and early. Comet's Refuge offered a delicious breakfast, and she was ready to take on the day. She waved goodbye to Amethyst and walked on the road to Rhinestone.<br/>
It was evening before she found the road that Amethyst had mentioned. There was a simple but well-crafted sign depicting three eyes: one red, one purple, and one blue. There were no words, but many people couldn't read anyway.<br/>
Connie walked along the road until she reached Garnet's hut. Like the sign, it was simple but well-built. There was a lovely vegetable garden beside the hut, and there was a well along the path. Connie walked up to the door and knocked.<br/>
"Come in!" a voice said imperiously. Connie opened the door and stepped through. The inside wasn't what she was expecting. There wasn't a cauldron, or a crystal ball, or burning incense. It looked like a perfectly lovely living room. On the other side of a room, a tall, beautiful woman sat on an armchair.<br/>
"Please, sit," the seer said. Connie did.<br/>
"You must be Garnet. I'm Sir Connie Maheswaran," Connie introduced herself.<br/>
"I know why you're here. You seek to slay the dragon," Garnet said. Connie blinked. That was true, but it was possible to guess that.<br/>
"I do. I need intelligence on the dragon if I want the best chance to slay it. What kind of help can you offer?" Connie asked.</p>
<hr/><p>	Garnet saw. She saw a future where she offered Connie no help. Connie would face the dragon and surely die.<br/>
Garnet saw a future where she offered too much help. Both the dragon and Greg would be cut down by Connie's hand.<br/>
Garnet saw a future where she tried to explain the situation to Connie. Connie would storm off in a huff, thinking she had wasted her time. She would face the dragon and surely die.<br/>
Garnet saw a future... was it possible? Just a little help here, a little nudge there... Garnet would have the play the role of the apathetic seer in order to sell Connie on it, but it was the best future she saw.<br/>
"I can offer you three warnings," Garnet said.<br/>
"First. After the dragon breathes fire upon you for the first time, dodge right.<br/>
Second. Lure the dragon into the middle chamber. It's smaller and gives the dragon less room to move.<br/>
Third. When the dragon roars and causes a shockwave, an opportunity for an advantage will become clear. Don't jump for the advantage right away. Bide your time."<br/>
"Uh... okay. What's the advantage?" Connie asked.<br/>
"That's extra," Garnet said. Connie furrowed her brow. She looked frustrated.<br/>
"Okay, well, anything else? Anything along the way?" she asked.<br/>
"You already have a map to the dragon's lair. There's nothing in your way that you can't overcome," Garnet said. She paused. "Actually, there is one more thing I can offer you. Show me your map."<br/>
Connie pulled out her map and laid it flat on the table in between them. Garnet pulled out a pen and marked a spot in the woods.<br/>
"At that location is a healing spring. You'll need it," Garnet said cryptically. Connie looked unnerved by that prediction, just as Garnet had planned.<br/>
"Okay... okay, after first fire breath, dodge right. Lure it into the middle chamber. After the shockwave, bide my time for the advantage. Got it," Connie said. Garnet smiled.<br/>
Garnet would have given these predictions for free, but she saw a future where Connie grew suspicious of her, so Garnet had to play her role.<br/>
"That'll be three silvers," Garnet said. Connie looked surprised, and she dug the coins out of her coinpurse. Garnet accepted them, and Connie made her way to the door.<br/>
"Thank you, seer," Connie said, and she stepped outside.<br/>
"Good luck," Garnet said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Dragon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Despite the off-putting seer, Connie was reassured with the new intelligence. She thought over the three warnings and internalized them. With the second day coming to a close, she set up camp at the base of mountains where the dragon made its lair.</p>
<p>	The mountains started to crowd together when Connie met her first obstacle. A landslide blocked the path. That alone wasn't surprising; these paths had been abandoned by all but would-be dragon slayers for years. What <i>was</i> surprising was that it was fresh. The stone was newly cracked. It couldn't have been more than a day old.<br/>
It was risky. Connie didn't want to climb over it, only to have it shift under her feet and crush her. She had no choice. She moved slowly. Rocks shifted when she grabbed them, and she tested her weight on each before moving forward. She nearly had a heart attack when a rock flipped only when she had put her full weight on it. Luckily, it only took a moment to lift the rock off of her foot and move forward. She lost a lot of time climbing over the landslide, but there was plenty of time left in the day to reach the dragon's lair.</p>
<p>	The path climbed the mountainside and wrapped around it. The path evened out into a clearing when Connie met her second obstacle.<br/>
A giant monster blocked the path. It was green and resembled a centipede. Acid dripped from its jaws, and it moved around the ground, eating something. Connie strained her eyes and saw... potatoes? Yes, potatoes were scattered around the clearing.<br/>
Potatoes didn't just appear in the middle of the mountains. Someone brought them here and dropped them on a mountainside. The most obvious explanation was that they had run afoul of this monster and lost them in the fight. Or perhaps they threw the potatoes to occupy the monster while they made their escape.<br/>
But nobody walked this road unless they intended to slay the dragon. If they were scared of this monster, they had no hope against the dragon.<br/>
The last possibility was that someone had lured the centipede here with the food. To what end, she didn't know. Maybe to delay any pursuers, like she had been delayed by that landslide. Twice was a coincidence, but her eyes were peeled for a third.<br/>
The centipede didn't look like it was going anywhere soon. Despite potatoes being scattered all over, it took its time going to each one and chewing at them. Connie could either sneak past or fight past. The centipede was distracted, but there was no cover between here and the next bend in the path. Her best bet was to ambush the monster.<br/>
Connie left the shield on her back. It wouldn't do to have her defense against dragon fire get dissolved by acid. She held her sword in two hands and stepped as quickly and quietly as she could up to the monster.<br/>
It turned a second too late to see her blow coming. Connie brought her sword down onto the monster's back, and it screeched and spat acid everywhere. Connie pulled her sword out with a splatter of ichor.<br/>
The centipede turned around with startling speed. It lunged forward with its jaws, and Connie backpedaled away from it. It spat acid, but it was far enough away that Connie had enough time to dodge. It spat again, and Connie dodged and ran forward. It bit at her, and Connie changed directions at the last second. The centipede's jaws clamped down on empty air behind her, and Connie reached out with her sword and carved a gash in the centipede's side. It shrieked in pain and rage and spun around, but Connie spun with it and jabbed down into its back. It writhed and spat acid wildly. Some splattered on Connie's breastplate, and it started to sizzle. Connie gasped. Time to end the fight.<br/>
Connie twisted the sword in the wound and pushed down with all her weight. The sword sliced open the centipede, and it curled in on itself, still drooling acid. Connie pulled her sword out and jogged backwards towards the cliff face.<br/>
The centipede spat at her, but it was too weak to spit the acid far. It writhed in pain, spitting pointlessly. Connie undid the straps on her breastplate and took it off. She pulled out her canteen and poured water on the acid. It didn't neutralize it, but it diluted it and washed most of the acid away. That plate would probably have to be replaced when she got back to Delmarva. In the meantime, it would do.<br/>
Connie looked up and watched the centipede stop writhing. It twitched, but Connie didn't know or care if it was dead or not yet. She put her breastplate back on and walked up the path.</p>
<p>	At the mouth of the dragon's lair, Connie found her third obstacle. A large figure clad in chainmail, less than half a suit of armor, and a cloak blocked her path. He held a pike in one hand, but he wasn't threatening her yet. Connie drew her sword and shield.<br/>
"You need to turn back," the man said.<br/>
"Who are you?" Connie demanded.<br/>
"You can't fight the dragon. Turn back," he said, ignoring her question.<br/>
"You can't expect me to turn back when I'm all the way here!" Connie said. She couldn't help but laugh. The figure was silent for a while.<br/>
"...No, I suppose not," he said sadly. He raised his pike.<br/>
Connie lunged forward and swung her sword. The man parried with his pike and spun his weapon around. Connie pushed against the blow with her shield. Oof. He was strong. She couldn't let herself get hit with that pike.<br/>
Connie bashed his pike with her shield, and while he was recovering, she stabbed at him with her sword. The man parried with the handle of his pike. He released it with one hand to throw a gauntleted fist at her face. Connie ducked and slid to the side and around him. He whirled to keep facing her, and his hood fell back.<br/>
She was stupefied for just long enough for the innkeeper Greg to kick her in the stomach and send her sprawling to the ground. She rolled away from his pike and stood up.<br/>
"You?! What are you doing here?" Connie yelled. Greg didn't answer. His eyes were sad and angry, and he swung his pike down at her. Connie deflected it with her shield and swung with her sword. It bounced off of his pauldron.<br/>
"You tried to talk me out of coming here. You're killing people who try to slay the dragon? Is that why they never come back?" Connie accused. Greg's eyes widened in anger, and he swung sloppily, giving Connie an opening to strike his chest. Her sword bounced off of his chainmail, but he winced from the force of the hit.<br/>
"I never killed any of them. I hate fighting. I talked down who I could. The rest died to the dragon," Greg said.<br/>
"So why kill me?" Connie asked. She swung at him, but he parried with his pike. The sword chipped the handle. Greg counterattacked, and the pike bit into Connie's breastplate. The impact hit her like a hammer through her armor.<br/>
"I don't want to kill you. I want to stop you," Greg said. Big mistake!  He wasn't going for lethal strikes. Connie risked leaving her head exposed as she swung low. Her sword caught the plate on his leg, and he grunted in pain as his armor transferred the full force of the blow. He elbowed her in the face, and Connie fell back, dazed.<br/>
"You want to be the only inn on the road! The dragon kills everyone else," Connie accused wildly. Greg's face contorted in anger, and he again swung sloppily, bending Connie's shield arm painfully. Connie slashed at his neck, and his armor deflected the blow onto his collarbone. Greg yelled out, and Connie's sword came back red. First blood!<br/>
"This isn't about me. The dragon isn't what you think!" Greg shouted. He didn't swing right away, but he held his pike up, ready.<br/>
"Then what is it?" Connie asked. Greg's face screwed up.<br/>
"He's my son," Greg said. Connie's eyes widened, and she was too stunned to avoid the pike being jabbed at her chest. Her breastplate blocked the blow, but the strength behind it knocked her off her feet. She raised her shield in anticipation, but nothing came. She stood up and saw Greg running into the lair.</p><hr/>
<p>	Greg ran into the dragon's lair. He kicked himself for not pressing the advantage while he had her knocked down, but he didn't know how much longer he would have lasted in that fight. His muscles were burning from exhaustion, and he wasn't as young as he used to be. He just hoped he softened her up enough for the dragon to...<br/>
Well, he didn't want the dragon to kill her, but if it came down to the two of them, he didn't want his son dead. Not after everything.<br/>
Greg didn't really know where he was going, but there was only one path to the cave. The first chamber was littered with bones of his kills. The middle chamber was empty. The final chamber was much bigger than the other two. There, at the back, was the dragon.<br/>
He was huge. His head alone was bigger than Greg. His hide was a purplish pink, and his back was covered in pale pink spikes. His wings were wrapped around himself, and his spiked tail swayed in his sleep.<br/>
Asleep like this, the dragon almost seemed peaceful. But that wouldn't do. Sir Connie would be here at any moment. If the dragon was caught off-guard, that would make it all the easier for her to kill him.<br/>
The dragon wouldn't react well to an armed intruder. He knew he was about to die, but... it was his son. He needed to protect him, the only way he knew how. He took a deep breath.<br/>
"STEVEN! WAKE UP!" Greg shouted. The dragon's eyes shot open, and he uncurled himself and took a threatening stance. He roared in rage.<br/>
Greg sighed. He wasn't ready to die, but at least his death would mean something.<br/>
The dragon stepped up to him, and his horns and tusks missed Greg's body. He brought his snout up right to Greg's injured shoulder... and sniffed.<br/>
Greg blinked in surprise. The dragon's eyes were fixed on Greg's injury. He raised his head up to the ceiling and roared again.<br/>
Connie finally ran into the room, and the dragon turned to her furiously.</p>
<hr/>
<p>	Connie expected to see Greg getting torn apart by the dragon. She didn't expect to see the dragon walk right past him and interpose itself between Greg and Connie.<br/>
So they did have some kind of connection. Connie had thought that was a bluff to surprise her, but the dragon was clearly protecting Greg. Greg had somehow made the dragon, then? What would happen if she took Greg out?<br/>
The dragon slashed at her with its claws, and Connie darted out of the way and ran at Greg. Greg raised his pike defensively.<br/>
With shocking speed, the dragon lifted itself into the air and lowered itself in front of Connie. Its wings buffeted Connie backwards, and it snarled and roared in fury.<br/>
Right. She would probably just enrage the dragon even more.<br/>
The dragon drew its head back and inhaled. Connie quickly held Rose's shield in front of her. The dragon blew fire, and Connie strained under the pressure. The flames bounced to the side and scattered against the cave wall. The heat didn't make it through the metal.<br/>
The dragon was surprised for long enough for Garnet's first warning to come to Connie. After the first fire breath attack--<br/>
Connie dodged right and narrowly escaped a wide rake. If she had dodged left, it would have hit her dead on. Emphasis on "dead". Garnet's second warning was to lure the dragon back to the middle chamber.<br/>
The dragon was faster than her in a footrace. If she turned and ran, it would be upon her in a second. She slashed at its claws, but they were too hard. It slashed right back at her, and it was all she could do to dodge them and stay alive, never mind lure it somewhere.<br/>
The dragon snapped its jaws at her. Connie dodged, but its tusk hit her in the stomach and sent her flying backwards. Connie hit the ground hard and rolled to her feet. She brought her shield up against its claws.<br/>
She was flying backwards again. She hit the back wall of the cave and crumpled to the ground. The shield saved her from being shredded, but she couldn't stand against that kind of strength.<br/>
Connie struggled to her feet as the dragon stepped forward. Its claws clacked on the stone floor. Connie took a step back, and then another. She got up to speed, jogging backwards away from the dragon. It didn't speed up to catch her. It kept pace with her. Connie could feel its cruel satisfaction upon seeing her fear.<br/>
That pointless malice cost it its advantageous terrain. She lured it into the middle chamber before bouncing forward and surprising it with a slash across its foreleg. The dragon responded by spitting flames at her. She barely had enough warning to bring up her shield. Little tongues of flames curled onto her leg.<br/>
Connie hissed and darted forward. The dragon backed up into a wall and couldn't dodge her wide slash on its belly. The wound sizzled like it was cauterized as soon as it happened. Connie furrowed her brow. She would fail a battle of attrition if it didn't bleed. She needed to hit harder.<br/>
The dragon slashed blindly at her, but she was out of its sight and dodged easily. She raised her sword and plunged it into his belly. The dragon roared, and Connie stumbled a step backwards, taking the sword out with her. A few drops of blood dripped to the floor before the dragon's wound seared itself shut.<br/>
The dragon lifted away from her, turned, and faced her. She was no longer safely underneath it. The dragon let loose a long stream of flame, and Connie deflected it into the wall. The flame breath had less pressure to it, but it didn't seem to be ending soon. Meanwhile, the dragon was stepping closer, and it raised its claws. Connie pushed forward into the flame breath and ducked below its jaws to avoid the rake.<br/>
Connie stopped to catch her breath. The dragon was really wearing her out. If she got hit again--<br/>
The dragon's tusk hooked her around her waste and flung her at the wall. Connie felt blooming pain at her knee and ankle-- were they broken? Were they bleeding? They were in too much pain to tell.<br/>
Connie struggled to her feet. Not broken, then. The dragon let out another breath of flame, this time at full force for only a second. Her shield reflected it, but the sheer force of it knocked her into the back of the wall. Connie yelled in pain and barely had the presence of mind to dodge out of the way of its claws. Connie darted under the dragon again. It tried to back up, but it bumped into the wall. Connie tore a long gash into its chest that sealed itself immediately after.<br/>
The dragon snarled in fury. Light caught Connie's eye. She turned to see the spikes on its forelegs glowing. The dragon roared, and an explosion went off. The concussive force knocked her into the ground, hard. Her leg was twisted painfully.<br/>
Connie heard the sound of cracking stone, and she looked up to see sand and dust falling from the ceiling. A cave-in! That would pin the dragon for long enough to take him out. That was the advantage that Connie could take. Garnet had told her to not rush at the opportunity, but Connie didn't know how long she could keep this up without an edge.<br/>
The dragon twisted around and bit at her. Connie scrambled away and bumped against its hind leg. She plunged her sword into it, and the dragon knocked her clumsily away. The blow didn't have much strength behind it, and Connie rolled back to her feet.<br/>
She caught sight of the cracked wall to her left. The cracks ran all the way to the ceiling. There wasn't much she could do to it with her sword. Her best bet was to trick the dragon into striking the wall or the ceiling. Okay, think. The dragon jumped upwards and resituated itself when she struck its chest and belly, but she didn't think it ever slammed itself into the ceiling with any sort of force.<br/>
A strong flame breath might knock it loose, and its claws might do the trick too, but that would require Connie to stand right at the weakest part of the wall. No, her best bet was to make it back up into the wall. She didn't know if that was enough force to cause a cave-in. Alright, how had she made it bump into a wall last time--?<br/>
Connie belayed that thought. She had to focus on not getting shredded by the dragon's claws. Right, being right in front of it and running forward made it back up-- Connie ducked under a bite. So first she had to get into position. Claws came in a horizontal arc. Oh, no! Connie couldn't dodge-- she held up her shield.<br/>
Connie's vision cleared as she fell from the wall. Her head was spinning. How many walls had she hit today? She had lost count. She held her shield up against another concussive blast of flame. Connie gasped for breath and looked wildly. Where was that cracked wall? ...Over there. She needed to line the dragon up...<br/>
Connie turned away and jogged around the curve. The action was so unexpected, that the dragon didn't slash at her until she was almost in position. One more dodge-- there! If the dragon backed up now, it would bump into the cracked wall. Garnet said to bide her time for the right opportunity. Was it now? It had taken a while to line the dragon up. When would there be a better time than now?<br/>
The dragon backed up and breathed fire on her shield. Now, there was too little room behind it and too much room in front of it to kill Connie before she even got close. She needed it closer. The flames died down. Connie lowered her shield, and then the dragon breathed fire again. She barely got her shield back up in time. The dragon beat its wings, and the heat washed over her, even though the shield reflected the flames. Connie held her ground.<br/>
The dragon took one step forward. Come on, come on. The dragon took another step... Connie raised her sword. The dragon charged forward and bit at her. Connie ducked out of the way and barely missed getting clotheslined by its tusk. She slashed at its neck, and it reared back. Connie ran forward, and it ran backwards with her, not letting her get close to its belly. Its tail brushed against the wall, and it tried to stop, but its momentum carried it into the crack in the wall.<br/>
At first, Connie thought nothing happened. She used the opportunity to carve a short-lived line across its chest.<br/>
Then, Connie heard rumbling. Sand and dust fell from the ceiling. Connie ran backwards, and the dragon was too distracted to stop her.<br/>
There was a loud crack, and then Connie couldn't hear anything. Dust and pebbles were lifted off of the ground by the vibrations that shook through Connie's body. She realized belatedly that she should get out instead of wait for the cave-in to happen.<br/>
Dust and sharp rocks exploded in front of her. Her shield and armor protected some of her, but lines of pain shot through her sword arm and her cheek. The air was so dusty, she couldn't even see the dragon.<br/>
A high-pitched ringing faded in from the silence. That ringing slowly faded at about the same pace the dust thinned, revealing the dragon, slumped on the ground and covered in rocks. Its left wing was mangled and torn, and there was a sizeable pile of rocks pinning its tail. Its whole body had been pelted with rocks, but it shakily tried to raise to its feet, and the rocks slid off, kicking up more dust.<br/>
Now was the time to strike! Connie ran forward, stumbling once on the uneven ground. The dragon's eyes widened, and it lifted its head just in time to turn a stab through the eye into a deep diagonal gouge across its face. Unlike before, the cut didn't sear itself away. Blood trickled to the rocky ground.<br/>
"NOOOO!" Greg yelled. Connie had forgotten he was there. He was brown from the dust that had billowed onto him, and he was running onto the gravel to engage Connie.<br/>
He had tears in his eyes, and his form was sloppy. He jabbed with his pike, and Connie deflected it with her shield.<br/>
"Don't kill him! He's my son! He's my son!" Greg cried. Connie dodged to the side and rushed him with her shoulder. Greg slipped on the loose gravel and fell to the ground. The dragon roared and watched Greg fall with outstretched claws. It was distracted.<br/>
Connie ran forward and plunged the sword into the dragon's chest. It hit a rib and went off-target. She had missed the heart. Still, the dragon froze. It let out pained puffs of air. The sword got unbearably hot, and the wound started burning with the sword still in it.<br/>
Greg screamed, and Connie was bowled over. She rolled to her feet and then collapsed. She was in bad shape. She pushed herself up-- she needed to finish this!<br/>
"Steven! No! I'm so sorry, Steven!" Greg wailed. He ran his hands over the dragon's head, and the dragon looked... tired. It wasn't snarling. It pressed its head into Greg's hands and let him hold onto him. Greg sobbed, clutching at the dragon.<br/>
The dragon's eyes drifted over to Connie, and that tiredness persisted. The malice and anger was gone. It knew it was going to die.<br/>
"Steven, I'm-- I'm going to pull this out, okay?" Greg said shakily. The dragon just stared at him. Greg reached for the sword.<br/>
"I can't let you do that," Connie said.<br/>
"He's going to die! My son is going to die!" Greg said, looking at her through his tears.<br/>
"This isn't your son anymore!" Connie shouted, guessing at their situation. Greg looked like he'd been slapped, and then he started shaking his head.<br/>
"Yes he is! He recognizes me! He never attacked me, and he tried to protect me from you!" Greg shouted. He turned away from Connie and grabbed the sword. The dragon roared in pain as Greg pulled the sword out in one smooth motion. The burning had apparently ran out. Blood gushed out of the wound. Greg tore off his cloak and jammed it against the wound.<br/>
"None of this is his fault! He doesn't understand what he's doing! He's not supposed to be like this," Greg said.<br/>
"What is he supposed to be?" Connie asked slowly.<br/>
"Steven was the happiest, most caring little boy you'd ever met. He cared about everyone more than himself. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl... me. We'd lean on him, and he was so happy to help us, and we had no idea what we were doing to him," Greg said. Garnet? Wait, Pearl?! They knew each other?<br/>
"The rebel situation got out of hand, and more and more responsibilities were piled on Steven. It wasn't fair, to put all that on a child! And then, when Rose was-- assassinated, it all fell to him!" Greg broke down into sobs again, and Connie's blood turned to ice. Steven was the duchess's son? Right, Steven was the name of the heir. Everyone thought he had been killed by the dragon!<br/>
"I did my best to run the duchy for him, but everything was falling apart without Rose! Everything went wrong. Steven was under so much stress, and he got into a fight, and--" Greg broke off and took deep breaths.<br/>
"He killed someone by accident. He lasted long enough for her to be buried before-- before his... his anger, and his self-hatred, and..." Greg stopped talking.<br/>
The dragon stared at Connie blankly.<br/>
"He doesn't understand what's going on. I want to help him, but I don't know how," Greg said.<br/>
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Connie asked.<br/>
"I did! After I evacuated the duchy, I went to Rhinestone and told the queen what happened to Steven. They-- they were fine just abandoning the Desolation to him. And who else would I tell?"<br/>
"So you just gave up," Connie said.<br/>
"They didn't want a low-born like me hanging around, reminding them of Rose! The duchy was destroyed. All I could do was build a refuge in the Desolation and try to steer people away from danger. What more could I have done?" he asked. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Connie thought about it. There wasn't an obvious answer, but he'd been dwelling on it for years. Had he really had no ideas over that time?<br/>
Well... maybe Connie was being too cold. Greg held his wounded, monstrous son and sobbed, and the dragon seemed calmer now. Connie was torn. If there was some way to save Steven, she should probably do that. But if her mercy led to the dragon recovering and terrorizing the Desolation again, Connie would never forgive herself.<br/>
Connie sighed. <i>'The dragon is laying waste to the countryside. Slay it.'</i> It was the most morally black and white quest she could conceive of. It got so messy. She almost preferred that the dragon was an irredeemable monster so she could execute it with no qualms. The thought of killing Greg's son in front of him made Connie feel sick.<br/>
The healing spring in the woods had been in the back of her mind. She could heal the dragon's wounds, but Garnet had said nothing about it breaking whatever curse Steven was under. If he was healed, Connie had no hope of besting the dragon. He could fly out of her range and blow fire on her all day. She might be able to force a stalemate, but that was the best she could hope for.<br/>
Well, no. The best she could hope for was that the dragon would spare her out of gratitude for her change of heart. He certainly recognized Greg as an ally. Maybe they could somehow convince him to stop.<br/>
Connie sighed. She couldn't believe she was doing this.<br/>
"There is... a healing spring in the woods. Garnet told me about it," Connie said. Greg's tears halted, and he looked at her with wild hope.<br/>
"You-- you think that could help him?" Greg asked.<br/>
"Garnet didn't say anything about curing him. But before we do anything, we'll need to heal his wounds," Connie said. Greg looked over the dragon and nodded frantically.<br/>
"Right... yes, okay! Steven, we're going to need to move, okay? I-- I know you're in pain, but we're going to help you!" Greg said. The dragon cocked his head to the side. He didn't understand. Greg grabbed his head by the tusk and gently pulled. The dragon allowed Greg to extend his neck, but he didn't stand up.<br/>
"Steven, come on!" Greg said. The dragon resisted, but eventually shakily stood up. Some rocks fell off of him, and the dragon made some pained whine. He pulled out of Greg's grasp and twisted around to look at the rocks piled on top of his tail.<br/>
Connie walked forward, and the dragon turned on her and snapped his jaws in warning.<br/>
"Steven, it's okay! It's okay..." Greg said soothingly. The dragon seethed, but he allowed Connie to get closer. She picked the smallest rocks and tossed them behind her. The bigger ones, she could only roll off. The dragon watched her silently. Greg joined her a moment later, and together, they rolled off a larger boulder. When that one came off, the dragon suddenly started pulling forward. He was still buried, and the rocks scratched at his tail, but the dragon kept pulling himself free. Two of the spikes on his tail were snapped off. He limped forward and curled around to face them. Connie widened her stance, but the dragon didn't attack. He just stared at them.<br/>
Greg walked forward, and the dragon let him hug his head. Connie had heard stories about the dragon that laid waste to the old duchy and killed anyone who tried to resettle there. Then Greg told her he was some cursed kid who barely recognized his own father. Now he was acting like a scared animal.<br/>
Connie sighed. Damn her heart! She really hoped this would work out.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Return</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The dragon didn't know what to think about this knight. She invaded his lair and tried to kill the man. <i>(Who was he? Why did want to protect him? His head hurt.)</i> Then she nearly killed the dragon, and the man stopped her. <i>(Why did the man care so much about a monster like him?)</i><br/>
The man and the knight argued while the dragon was pinned. <i>(What were they saying? He was supposed to understand. His head hurt!)</i> Then the knight and the man dug him out. The dragon was so confused. She attacked him first! Why hadn't she finished the job? What was going on?<br/>
The man stepped forward and held the dragon's head. The contact felt... nice. The dragon breathed, and his head cooled. He still didn't understand. Why did the man want to help him? The thoughts hurt. It was easier to just breathe and relax into the hug.<br/>
The man pulled on his tusk again. The dragon didn't know what was going on, but he understood that the man wanted him to follow him. The dragon would rather stay here and rest, but there was something about the man that made the dragon follow.<br/>
He respected the knight for her strength and skill in battle, but he was dismayed to see that she was following them. She didn't seem hostile, but she tensed whenever he looked at her. Not surprising. He'd landed a few good hits on her. None as wounding as her strike at his chest that nearly killed him, but she looked exhausted and singed. Not as burned as she would have been without that shield.<br/>
That shield.<br/>
There was something about it. ...Must be magic, he supposed. </p>
<p>	They led him into the forest and stopped while the mountains were still in sight. The dragon was more than happy to rest. He didn't know what the man and the knight were doing with all that stuff. He watched them with dull curiosity. The man tried to talk to him, but the dragon just stared at him. He liked hearing the man's voice, but he didn't understand the words.<br/>
The man fumbled with sticks and logs. The knight fumbled with them too. There was the faint smell of smoke before the wood ignited into fire. Hmm. Humans generally didn't like fire. They screamed when they burned, and they screamed when their houses burned. ...Maybe he remembered some fires they didn't seem worried about? The dragon stared at the fire. At least it was beautiful.<br/>
The humans burned some morsels and ate them. They gestured oddly while holding their morsels and talked to him. The dragon didn't understand. Eventually, they moved around some more before they laid down and stopped moving.<br/>
...Were they sleeping? The dragon didn't need to sleep. He had woken up earlier that day. Even if he could sleep, he wouldn't let his guard down like that around the knight. He kept watch throughout the night. He saw some owls and bats, but nothing worth paying attention to. As the barest hint of morning twilight tinted the horizon, the dragon caught sight of something moving some distance away.<br/>
A deer was walking all alone. The dragon avoided overhunting the herds closest to his lair, but he couldn't fly anywhere further with his injured wing. He stood up silently and stalked after it. The forest floor muffled his claws, but he couldn't sneak very close. He followed the deer at a long distance until there was a long, empty corridor that he could clear. He only had one shot at this; his wing was too injured to fly. The dragon broke into a run. The deer turned and saw him and turned to run. Just before it fled into the woods, the dragon's claws slashed open its throat.<br/>
The dragon spat a quick puff of flames to burn off the fur before he chewed off the deer's head. Blood splattered all over his snout. It wasn't a particularly big deer, but it would tide him over for a while.</p>
<p>	He walked back to where the humans were sleeping and settled back down until the man woke up. The man stood up, stretched, and turned to the dragon. He wasn't surprised to see the dragon, but then he took a closer look, and he started freaking out. The dragon watched, bemused, as the man made high-pitched squawking noises and looked around wildly. The man fell to his knees in relief when he saw the knight waking up to the sound of the man's yelling.<br/>
The knight tensed up when she saw the dragon. There was a pause, and then she started laughing. The man started laughing a moment later. The dragon didn't understand what the fuss was about, but the laughter sounded weirdly nice.</p>
<p>	They were attacked later that day. Some sort of furry, horned monster came out of nowhere. It was insane to attack a dragon, even one as injured as he was. The dragon blew flames all over it, igniting its mane. Instead of panicking, it roared in fury and charged at the dragon. The dragon readied himself, but the knight interposed herself between him and the beast.<br/>
The dragon hesitated, confused. Was she... protecting him? She bashed away the beast's claws with her shield, ducked, and dragged her sword through its belly as it jumped over her. The beast lost momentum, and it crashed in a heap at the dragon's feet.<br/>
The dragon lazily stepped on it with a foreleg and bit the beast's throat. A quick tug and a snap, and the beast went limp in his mouth.<br/>
The knight seemed happy. The thrill of victory, perhaps. It was weird, fighting alongside a human instead of killing them. He wouldn't allow himself to become some war dog, but...<br/>
The dragon huffed. He didn't know <i>what</i> he was feeling. What he <i>did</i> understand was that he currently held a big slab of meat in his jaws.<br/>
A few minutes later, he felt a lot fuller, and the humans looked a lot more on edge.</p>
<p>	They came across a small stream with an odd pinkish hue. The dragon wanted to drink, but the man pulled on his tusk and directed him upstream. The dragon could easily pull away, but he just huffed to make his irritation known. Luckily, they didn't have far to go. The source of the stream was a small ways away.<br/>
It was a large pool surrounded by flowering rose bushes. In the center was an island with a huge weeping willow whose roots fed from the spring. It was almost aggressively beautiful. The dragon was surprised he'd never known this was here in his territory. The tree cover must have been too thick to see from above.<br/>
The man let go of his tusk, so the dragon walked forward and drank the pinkish water. It tasted lightly sweet. As he drank, he felt... warmer. He stopped drinking. Was it poisonous? He felt the warmth spread throughout his body and concentrate uncomfortably in his chest, tail, and wing. The pain melted into the discomfort, and then the discomfort faded away itself. He bent around in confusion and looked at his mangled wing.<br/>
It was twitching with his heartbeat, and... shifting. It looked like it was melting off of his body! The dragon spread it out with a growl of surprise, and he realized belatedly that the bones weren't broken anymore. The connective tissue just slid together. The dragon gave it a couple curious flaps, and it felt fine! His chest felt fine, his tail felt fine, even his face felt fine.<br/>
He'd been healed somehow. It must have been the water. The humans had taken him here to be healed? He didn't understand! Why were they helping a monster like him so much?<br/>
He watched as the man and the knight approached the spring, filled their canteens, and drank from it. The purple bruises and the reddish, chapped skin of the knight's burns faded into a healthy brown. The man's wounds were hidden by his armor, but his back straightened as if a weight had been taken off of it. He looked...<br/>
The dragon's head hurt. The man looked so familiar. He-- The dragon growled and pawed at his head. What was happening to him? The feeling of warmth from the spring water returned, and the pain receded.<br/>
<i>"Aw. Look at you, so handsome with your mother's shield," Dad said.</i> The memory vanished as quickly as it had come. Dad. He was Dad.<br/>
His... his mother's shield. Right there. On the knight's back. His mother?<br/>
<i>Astonishingly tall. Ringlets of long, curly hair. Regal, but excitable. Everyone loved her. Until she--</i> The memory broke off with a surge of pain. It hurt to think about. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.<br/>
But then the healing water enveloped his head and eased the pain. It... it still hurt, but maybe he could bear it.<br/>
<i>Mom was killed. Murdered. Assassinated. Cut down right in front of him. Her blood splattered across his face.</i> The dragon gripped his head. It hurt so much. The water wasn't enough. He staggered forward to the edge of the spring and drank more water to numb the pain.<br/>
He felt something rubbing his shoulder. He twisted around to see Dad patting him sympathetically. He... he still didn't understand. Mom and Dad were humans, why was he-- pain flared in his head. He didn't want to think about it. He knew it would hurt! It would hurt so much more than he could bear, and he didn't want to hurt.<br/>
He turned and saw the knight watching warily from a distance. The dragon felt a clenching in his heart. He'd hurt her pretty badly. He felt... bad? No, no, that wasn't possible! He was a monster, and monsters are supposed to hurt people! That's what they do! His head hurt! Why did it hurt so much?! Don't think about it, don't think about it! He's fine! He's fine!<br/>
But he opened his eyes again, and guilt gripped his heart. He couldn't live like this! Why had they brought him here?! Why did they do this to him?! He growled, raised his head up to the sky, and roared. Birds flew out of the trees, alarmed.<br/>
"Hey, hey, you're okay, Steven," Dad said. <i>Steven...</i><br/>
It... It was his name, wasn't it. How had he forgotten his own name? But the pain surged back, and the dragon... Steven didn't think too much.<br/>
"Are you okay?" Dad asked. No, Steven felt horrible, and he wanted it to stop. He wanted another hug, but he didn't know how to ask for one. And if he could... maybe he didn't deserve one. He had killed... so many people, and he thought nothing of it. Now, his memories were starting to get claimed by that-- that fog. If he dwelled on everything he had done, he would go crazy. It hurt less to think of nothing at all.<br/>
"Are you still in pain?" Dad asked. Steven nodded miserably.<br/>
"You... do you understand me?" Dad asked, astonished. Steven nodded again.<br/>
"Do you... do you remember?" Dad asked. Steven hesitated. He bobbed his head from side to side, then nodded.<br/>
"Do you remember turning into a dragon?" he asked. Steven froze. He had... turned into a dragon? Well, that explained why his parents were human and he was not. Steven shook his head.<br/>
"Rose?" Dad asked. Steven nodded. "And... how she died?" Another nod.<br/>
"Do you remember... Jasper?" Dad asked slowly. Dread washed over Steven. He was in danger. One misstep could send him plummeting to his death. Steven shook his head more forcefully.<br/>
"Jasper was one of your mother's highest officers. When Rose died and you started to take over, Jasper didn't want to take orders from you. You got into a fight and killed her," Dad explained. Steven cocked his head to the side. That was it? He was a monster. He'd killed far many more than her. Why was this "Jasper" special? He supposed he felt bad about it, but it seemed so distant.<br/>
"I can see you're not really getting the whole picture. That was the catalyst for your, uh, transformation. It ate you up inside. You didn't last a week before your guilt consumed you," Dad explained. It sounded bad, but Steven just didn't remember.<br/>
...But he could feel the guilt just beyond the edges of the fog. He'd gone too far down this path. If he faced the guilt, it would consume him again. All the people he killed. If he thought about it-- no, he couldn't think about it. He couldn't.<br/>
"...You don't remember," Dad said quietly.<br/>
"So, what do we do now?" the knight asked.<br/>
"I don't know for sure, but I think that his guilt and self-hatred caused this. If he could forgive himself, maybe..." Dad said. Ha. That was a laugh. Nobody could forgive what he had done. They should have saved their time and just slain him instead.<br/>
"But first he has to remember what he did," the knight said.<br/>
"...I have an idea, but it'll take time to get there, Connie," Dad said. Steven didn't want to face whatever pain this was going to bring him, but more than that, he didn't want to waste any more of Dad's time than he already had.<br/>
"It's in the Desolation, a few miles away from the old capital. Should take maybe... two days to walk there? Three?" Dad said. Nope. Nuh-uh. Steven wasn't walking for three days. He growled to get their attention, and he walked forward and lowered himself to the ground.<br/>
"Huh? ...Oh, uh... Am I... uh..." Dad stammered, looking uncomfortable.<br/>
"Can we... are we gonna fly there?!" Connie asked with starry eyes. Steven nodded.<br/>
"Ah! I... I dunno about this..." Dad said.<br/>
"Come on, Greg! It might be scary, but it'll be incredible!" Connie said. She practically skipped over to Steven, her excitement drowning out what remained of her distrust. Steven felt her climb his spikes until she found a stable spot above the base of his wings. She braced her feet against a spike each and grabbed two more with her hands. It would feel weird flying with someone holding them like that, but Steven would manage.<br/>
"Oh, man..." Dad said. Seeing Connie and Steven gang up on him put enough pressure on him to climb up himself. He sat in front of Connie, at the base of Steven's neck. He was heavier than the knight, but Steven was more than strong enough to carry them both. Steven stood up and experimentally beat his wings twice. Dad and Connie adjusted their grips, and Steven jumped up into the air.<br/>
The forest fell away in an instant, and there was nothing but a lumpy carpet of green canopy below them. They had walked all day, but from this height, the mountains they had come from looked like a leisurely stroll away.<br/>
"Ha ha ha! WOOHOO!" Connie cheered. Hearing her made Steven felt lighter. He flew higher. After a moment, he realized he didn't know where he was going. He banked and flew in a circle. After a couple loops, Dad realized the problem.<br/>
"Oh! Uh, go west-northwest!" Dad said. Steven banked again and flew that direction. It wasn't a particularly cloudy day, but there were a few clouds above them. Steven couldn't resist showing off. He climbed up and up until they breached the cloud layer. This was his favorite part about flying. Dad and Connie made awed sounds behind him, and he knew they felt the same way.<br/>
It was nice to share that with them.</p>
<p>Steven flew above the clouds for a while before it occurred to him that Dad might have trouble seeing where they needed to go. He glided down until they sank below the cloud layer again, and he could feel Dad shifting around, getting a lay of the land.<br/>
Dad gave Steven some bad directions and apologized that he wasn't used to seeing the land from this angle. That was fine by Steven. The worst that happened was that they flew for a little longer.<br/>
"We're getting close. Start descending," Dad said somberly. Steven recognized that the time for fun had come to a close. They flew over the now-overgrown ruins of the capital and flew a bit further before their target came into view.<br/>
"There. That graveyard, straight ahead and a little to the left," Dad directed him. Hmph. A graveyard? Burials were low priority while he was destroying the duchy. Everyone buried there must have died before he went on his killing spree.<br/>
Steven lowered himself to the ground more gently than he was used to. He didn't know how the humans would react to his typical, abrupt landings. He lowered himself to the ground again, and Dad couldn't climb off of him quick enough. He wobbled and stumbled forward into the overgrown brush. Connie followed suit. She still seemed thrilled by the flight, but she was restraining herself. Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.<br/>
Dad made his way to a spiky iron fence around the graveyard. It was a little too tall for him to climb. Steven unceremoniously knocked down the fence and walked in. The cemetery was overgrown with grasses that didn't quite cover most of the graves. Steven had to step carefully so as to not crush the headstones.<br/>
"Come on, this way," Dad said. He led Connie into the cemetery. Steven moved a lot slower. He started to get frustrated. This would go a lot faster if the graves were spaced further apart. He looked up and was struck by how familiar it looked. It wasn't quite right. Maybe he was at the wrong angle.<br/>
"It's somewhere around here," Dad said. He pulled grass away from a headstone and moved down the line. Connie went the other direction.<br/>
As Steven got closer, the sense of familiarity increased. The memory slowly came into focus as he stepped into position.<br/>
"Here it is," Connie said. Greg walked over.<br/>
"Yep," he said. He started tearing out the grass and throwing it aside. Steven stepped closer.<br/>
Greg surveyed his work and nodded in satisfaction. He turned to Steven and silently watched him approach.<br/>
A sense of dread grew in his throat. He was scared of turning the corner and seeing the other side. He knew what would be written there. He didn't need to see it to know what it was. He passed the grave, and the writing rotated into view.<br/>
Jasper.</p>
<p>	The memory clicked into place.<br/>
<i>Steven had stood right here as they lowered her in. He had grit his teeth and balled his fists.</i></p>
<p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p><i>	"I don't care how much you miss her, Jasper! She's gone, and you're dealing with me now!" Steven had shouted at her.<br/>
"As usual, you're missing the point!" Jasper shouted right back.<br/>
"Oh, no. I get it. But what</i> you <i>don't get is that Soldiers don't get to pick who they serve. Fall into line and stop wasting my time!" Steven shouted.<br/>
"Nice speech. How many times did you practice that? You and I both know it's empty. You can't afford to do anything to me, weakling. Not with the rebellion going on," Jasper said.<br/>
"I'M NOT WEAK!" Steven shouted. He threw the first punch.</i></p>
<p>	Steven gasped for breath.</p>
<p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p>	<i>"Jasper? ...Hey, come on. If this is a trick, I'm going to demote you," Steven threatened hollowly. He walked closer. She wasn't breathing, and her neck was bent at an alarming angle.</i><br/>
<i>"M-Medic! I need help here!" Steven called. He knew it was too late.</i></p>
<p>
  <i>	What was he doing here? He had murdered her, and he was attending her funeral. How messed up was that? The other attendees wouldn't dare call him out. Who could? He was the heir to the duchy. He could get away with much worse. How much worse could he be? The people were already rebelling.<br/>
...The rebellion didn't matter. All of that stupid stuff was nothing. This was real. He had killed someone. And he got away with it. He was a monster.</i>
</p>
<p>	Two soft hands held his head.<br/>
"Steven, you know it was an accident," Dad said, grounding him in the present. "Things got heated, but you didn't want her dead." Steven looked away. He <i>did</i> want her dead. He just didn't mean to actually <i>do it</i>.<br/>
"And your, what, self-punishment? Living alone, living like an animal? Does the punishment fit the crime?" Dad asked. Steven was surprised by the question.<br/>
"Haven't you suffered enough for what you did? Five years of suffering for one... accident?" Dad asked. Steven didn't know the answer.<br/>
"This isn't you, Steven. You're not a bad person. You've done bad things, but you're not a bad person," Dad said. Steven didn't understand. That didn't make sense! He'd done bad things and then went on to do worse things! He'd killed... so many people! How could he possibly not be bad?<br/>
"Steven. You did something bad, and you thought that that made you a monster," Connie said. "And then you started acting like a monster. You're supposed to learn from your mistakes, not internalize them!"<br/>
Steven felt like he'd been slapped. She was right. All of this-- all of this had been his own fault.<br/>
"It's not too late for you! You just need to forgive yourself!" Dad said. Oh, was that <i>all?</i> How could Steven do that? It was too much.<br/>
"Beating yourself up doesn't make you better. Learning and moving on does," Dad said.<br/>
"So... instead of dwelling on the past, focus on what you can do to make up for it!" Connie exclaimed.<br/>
...Make up for it? Was it even possible? He'd killed everyone. He destroyed the duchy. He could never repay a fraction of what he had done. It was impossible. He might as well not even try.<br/>
No! No, that was what led him this far. He hadn't tried, and he slid further and further into his own insanity. Atonement might be impossible, but he had to at least try.<br/>
The fog vanished. The memories flooded back in an instant. The broken bodies. The burning cities. His endless, overpowering anger and hatred. His self-loathing. His guilt. Faces flashed before his eyes. Endless masses of faces. It was too much. He had killed them without a second thought. Now, the guilt was hitting him all at once! It was too much! It was too much!<br/>
Steven couldn't hold it back. It overflowed out of his eyes. People screaming, families broken. Steven sobbed. It hurt so much. He didn't have the presence of mind to even judge himself. It hurt him, and all he could do was cry.<br/>
He didn't notice the grass sliding under his legs. He didn't notice feeling returning to his hands. He didn't notice the graveyard shrinking. He didn't notice his wings and spikes retract until a cloak was thrown around his shoulders. Dad wrapped his arms around his back, and Steven sobbed into his shoulder. He grabbed onto him like a drowning man. Dad's embrace grounded him. He wasn't alone. Steven didn't want to be alone. It was selfish, but he was glad Dad was here with him.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Steven cried himself hoarse, Dad decided to give him a break by telling him what he had been up to. He owned a successful inn with Amethyst on the road between Delmarva and Rhinestone, and he offered Steven a job there. Steven could barely pay attention. He stared at his hands.<br/>
Dad changed the subject to Garnet's seer service down the road. Connie cheerfully told Steven of her own meeting with Garnet and how her predictions helped her nearly kill Steven. She then told him of Pearl's teaching position in Delmarva and what her lessons had been like.<br/>
Dad and Connie kept Steven cheered up for as long as they could, but they couldn't dance around the issue forever.<br/>
"I did such awful things," Steven said. "I haven't even really processed everything-- everyone I killed. I know dwelling on it is useless, but I have to try to make up for it!"<br/>
"Steven, you... That wasn't you. Not really. You're not responsible--" Dad began.<br/>
"No! I am!" Steven interrupted. "I made myself crazy with grief. And while I wasn't in my right mind, I was the one who killed everyone. Nobody else. It was me."<br/>
"Steven, you have to have some sympathy for yourself," Dad said. "If this was someone else-- pretend it's not you. If this was someone else. What would you say to them?"<br/>
If someone else had stressed themselves to the point of murder, went insane, and committed genocide against an entire region? What would he say to that person?<br/>
"...I'd say there's nothing he could ever do to make up for it. He'd have to face punishment," Steven said, staring at a purple patch on his arm that hadn't quite changed back.<br/>
"Wh-what? No, you..." Dad trailed off.<br/>
"Who would you turn yourself into? The Desolation is yours," Connie said.<br/>
"No! No way. Dad's the Duke. And... the duchy is gone, anyway," Steven said.<br/>
"You're the heir, though. And it's not your neighbors' jurisdiction," Connie said.<br/>
"Are you kidding me?" Steven asked flatly.<br/>
"I'm saying, legally! Everything you did was within your own borders," Connie said.<br/>
"Then-- then it was an act of war! I attacked Delmarvan citizens. I'll be tried as a war criminal," Steven said.<br/>
"I don't think it works like that," Connie said.<br/>
"Whatever! I'll throw myself at their courts. They can figure out how to classify my crimes," Steven said.<br/>
"Steven, I don't think this is a good idea. Turning yourself in won't fix anything," Dad said.<br/>
"I have to do it, Dad. If I just... run away from all of this, I'll never forgive myself!" Steven said.<br/>
"But I just got you back! And now you're going away again..." Dad said. His eyes started to water. Steven's eyes teared up sympathetically.<br/>
"I'm so sorry, Dad. I wish I could stay with you, but... I need to do this," Steven said.<br/>
"...At least come with me to my inn! You could rest there for as long as you need until you're better," Dad said. "And... if you like it, you could work there, meet all sorts of new people, live a nice simple life with your friends and me..."<br/>
That sounded wonderful. Steven wanted that more than anything.<br/>
"Of course I'll visit your inn! And... maybe if I'm not executed, I could take you up on that in fifty years," Steven joked ineptly. Dad huffed out a halfhearted laugh.<br/>
"Okay... okay. Ah, Steven, you've got such a good heart," Dad said. His tears spilled out of his eyes, and he wiped them away with his sleeve. "Come on, let's get out of here. If we make it back by lunch tomorrow, we can get the house stew!"<br/>
Steven let himself be pulled up. That sounded really good.</p><p>	They only spent a day at the Comet's Refuge. Amethyst was thrilled to see Steven back to normal. She was terrified of Steven's plan to turn himself in, but she eventually accepted that Steven would go through with it regardless.<br/>
There wasn't enough time to catch up. It seemed like they'd only just arrived, but Steven had to go to Delmarva with Dad and Connie.<br/>
Connie took them to Pearl's house. At her door, Steven realized he had prepared nothing to say to her. The door opened seconds after Connie knocked.<br/>
"Connie! You're back! What happened? Did you--?" Pearl broke off as she caught sight of the others. "Duke Greg?! Wait, Steven?!"<br/>
"I'm not the duke anymore, Pearl. Um, can we come in?" Dad asked. Pearl backed up, and they filed inside.<br/>
"I-- I can't believe it! I thought you were killed by the dragon! We got separated, and then you just... disappeared!" Pearl exclaimed.<br/>
"Eh heh... funny story," Steven began nervously.<br/>
"Aah! What happened to your face!" Pearl leaned over and traced the diagonal scar across his face with her finger.<br/>
"That was me. I did that," Connie said without providing crucial context. Pearl looked like she was going to have a stroke before Dad stepped in.<br/>
"Pearl. Um. The dragon. It was Steven," he said.<br/>
"Ah... what?" Pearl said.<br/>
"After I murdered Jasper, I went crazy from guilt, turned into a dragon, and then I killed everyone and everything," Steven said bluntly.<br/>
"I wouldn't have put it like that!" Dad said quickly. "But that is the, uhh, gist of it."<br/>
Pearl took a deep breath.<br/>
"Come on, let's sit down. Tell me everything," she said.</p><p>
  <i>He had felt off all day. His head hurt, and he could have sworn he felt something sliding underneath his skin. Dad had come in and told him that with Jasper's funeral, the matter was settled. That just made Steven feel worse. So, it wouldn't be looked at. His dad just swept everything under the rug.<br/>
He was a monster, and nobody could stand in his way. He clutched his head and seethed at the pain. Dad laid a sympathetic hand on Steven's back and jostled something under the skin.<br/>
Steven's head hurt less when the spikes tore through the skin on his back. Dad screamed in pain, and his hand came back bloody when he pulled it back. He'd just wanted to help, and Steven had hurt him too. It all made sense. Monsters couldn't do anything but hurt everyone around them.<br/>
As if in confirmation, the muscles on his back stretched and contracted and cracked with bones that shouldn't exist. He lost feeling in his hands as sturdy scales grew over the sensitive skin. He was oddly calm about his bones cracking, healing, and cracking again. He was turning into a monster. Well, a different kind of monster than he was already.<br/>
Dad stared in horror before turning and running away.<br/>
Indeed. Nobody could love a monster.<br/>
A fog engulfed the monster's mind, and he didn't hurt anymore.</i>
</p><p>	Steven didn't go into detail. He glossed over the transformation itself. When he got to the part where he was insanely attacking anyone he could see, Dad took over. He explained that he organized the evacuation north to Rhinestone with Garnet and Amethyst. Apparently, Pearl had been separated from them and led a group of refugees south to Delmarva.<br/>
Dad told Pearl about building the inn that Steven wouldn't attack and how he discouraged dragon hunters like Connie. Sensing her opening, Connie recounted everything that happened on her journey. When her story got to the graveyard, Steven interrupted her.<br/>
"So when I remembered everything, Dad and Sir Connie convinced me to stop wallowing in guilt and do something about it. So now I'm here, and I need to turn myself in. But we're not sure to who, so we need your help," Steven said, skipping the end of Connie's story.<br/>
"I see. Well... I understand why you need to do this. You're foreigners, so we'll have to go to the consulate."<br/>
"'We'?" Steven asked.<br/>
"Of course I'm going with you! We can go in the morning. I'll help you prepare your case!" Pearl said.<br/>
"My case?"<br/>
"I'll help you get your story organized! I already have some ideas. It will really help the consul make an informed decision! It will take some time, though. You three are welcome to stay the night!" Pearl said with morbid excitement. Steven couldn't put up much of a fight. She was their guide through the legal process, after all.<br/>
Connie said her goodbyes and returned to her own home.</p><p>	Pearl's organization really helped. The matter of the dragon was of top importance, so they got fast-tracked. The court decided that it was wrong for Delmarva to punish a foreigner for his actions outside of his own control. Steven went off-script and tried to convince them that, though he wasn't in his right mind, he had still committed war crimes. The court didn't seem to see the difference. It seemed like they were just happy that the "dragon scourge" was over and done with, and they were eager to put it behind them.<br/>
Rhinestone was even worse. Steven got the sick impression that it was almost expected of Rhinestone nobility. It didn't seem like the first time they swept something like this under the rug. He even got special treatment for being Rose's son. Steven was so sickened by the display that he lost interest in being judged by their corrupt courts.</p>
<hr/><p>	Throwing himself upon the judgement of the courts hadn't ended how Steven expected or hoped for. Now what was he supposed to do?<br/>
"You okay, Steven?" Dad asked.<br/>
"No..." Steven said miserably. He slumped on the table. Dad chuckled softly and sat next to him on the bench.<br/>
"You will be. I know it. It feels bad now, and... maybe it won't ever stop feeling bad. But you're strong," Dad said.<br/>
"It's not that. I just... feel like I didn't try hard enough. To be judged, I mean," Steven said.<br/>
"You went through all the right channels. There's nothing more you could have done," Dad said.<br/>
"I hurt a lot of people. Maybe... I could find some of them?" Steven suggested.<br/>
"You couldn't possibly hunt them all down. And I don't think most of them would want you to. People think of dragons like a force of nature. They don't hold grudges against a storm or a plague."<br/>
"What if they do?" Steven asked morosely. Dad grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him so they faced each other.<br/>
"Steven. Do not find people angry at the dragon and provoke them into killing you," Dad said seriously. Well, when he said it like that, of course he wasn't going to do that!<br/>
"I-I won't!" Steven said.<br/>
"Good." Dad pulled Steven into a hug. "You have to know that you've already been judged. You deserve to live, and you deserve to be happy. Don't ever let anyone hurt you."<br/>
"...Okay, Dad," Steven said, hugging back.<br/>
"Now! Enough moping around. There's so much about running an inn that you need to learn! I've been dying to teach you how to make the house stew! It's too good for only two people to know!"<br/>
Steven smiled and followed him into the kitchen.</p><p>Later that day, Steven sulked at the bar, stuck in his own head.<br/>
"Still blue about the judges not beheading you with a sword?" Amethyst asked. Steven snorted and looked up at her.<br/>
"...Yeah. I mean, I can't stand that I got away with it, you know?" Steven said.<br/>
"I know," Amethyst sighed. "And I know this is rare for me to say, but maybe you should listen to what they said about you? Nobody's blaming you except <i>you.</i> If everyone thinks you're not responsible, maybe you should... listen?"<br/>
Steven sighed. He didn't want to get into another discussion about this.<br/>
"You know what Greg said. Beating yourself up doesn't fix anything. You've already learned to not do it again, so you came out a better person in the end!" Amethyst said. "And you <i>are</i> a good person, Steven. A bad person wouldn't want so badly to make it right."<br/>
"I know. But I can't make it right. Nothing I will ever do could come close to making it right," Steven said. Amethyst didn't deny it.<br/>
"...Garnet once said something about how good and evil don't, uh... balance each other out. They both stand alone. So, don't try to offset the bad! Just focus on doing good for its own sake," Amethyst said. Did Garnet really say that?<br/>
The idea was alluring, though. No scales to balance or a debt to repay. Just doing the most good he could. It seemed... doable.<br/>
The front door swung open, and a man walked in. He looked tired, and his eyes were downcast. Steven took a deep breath and plastered on what he hoped was a winning smile.<br/>
"Hello! Welcome to Comet's Refuge! Hey, I like your jacket!" Steven called. The man looked down at himself.<br/>
"Oh! Uh, thank you!" he said, surprised but grateful. He walked to a table with a smile on his face. Steven felt a little lighter.<br/>
Yeah. This, Steven could do.</p>
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